Re: Laser guided Tesla Coil

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Ben McMillen <spoonman534@xxxxxxxxx>

Gary, all,
  You need immense amounts to power in order to break down
the air (ionize) so that it will conduct. I remember making
a post about this from an article I had read in IEEE's
Spectrum magazine. They were using a pulsed laser to create
a conductive path to try to induce lightning strikes. The
problem becomes that the molecues (and other bits, dust,
etc..) in the air reflect and scatter high power laser
light, enough so that the reflected power can damage the
laser and the scattering reduces the overall transmitted
power.

There has also been some talk of using pulsed nitrogen
lasers to trigger spark gaps. I don't remember the results
of these runs, but I'm sure they're in the archives
somewhere..

It is possible to create plasma in air with an ultrafast
(femtosecond and picosecond pulse duration) laser in the UV
range (240 - 400 nm or there abouts).. short pulse duration
combined with a tight focus yields incredible areal power
densities. (on the order of terawatts / cm^2 or greater)

Hope that was a little help..

Coiling In Pittsburgh
Ben McMillen

--- Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Original poster: gary350@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
> Has anyone done any experements to see if a laser beam
> will conduct
> high voltage?
>
> Is there any way to conduct a voltage along a path like a
> laser beam?
>
>
>




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